Beignets: French Mardi Gras Doughnuts

Tomorrow is Mardi Gras or also Carnival! I don’t know if it celebrated in Canada, but in France it is a very fun time. We all dress up, attend a parade and most importantly eat beignets. I use to celebrate it mostly as a kid at school and with my parents. I always loved Carnival because I got a wear a costume, throw confetti everywhere and eat as many beignets as possible. Beignets are little doughnuts covered of sugar that are eaten at that time of the year. There are dozen different kinds of beignets: cripsy ones, puffy one, some with almonds, etc. They all are delicious but it is not safe to have too many beignets around because they are way to addictive!

So today, I will show you only one kind which is also the most common and popular beignet: les bugnes. They are very simple to make and easily recognizable by their diamond shape.

Let’s start cooking!

Ingredients:

3 cups + 3 tbsp white flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp butter

2 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1 tbsp rum

1 lemon zest

Icing sugar

1 liter oil for frying (I used canola oil)

Instructions:

1- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour sugar and the baking powder. Mix well and add the eggs one by one.

2- After adding the eggs, dice the butter and add it to the preparation. It is better to let your butter at room temperature until it softens as it will be easier to incorporate. Knead the dough until smooth and non sticky. Then add your rum and lemon zest. Let your dough rest for 1h in the fridge.

3- Roll your dough until it reaches a thickness of about 1 cm. Then, cut diamonds in the dough and make a small cut at the center of each diamond. I personally like to make different thicknesses and sizes for the diamonds as you end up with a wilder variety of beignets. So it is up to to you if you want bigger, smaller or thicker beignets.

3- Heat up your oil and start frying once hot. Once your beignets floats, let them cook a little bit longer until golden brown color and place them on a paper towel to absorb the oil. Dust them with icing sugar and they are ready to eat!

These are a perfect treat for carnival. If you don’t celebrate Mardi Gras they will go great with your tea or coffee or as a snack.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe! Please let me know in the comments if you celebrate Mardi Gras and what are your traditions and food! I would love to know.